MANSFIELD — Firms interested in designing and assisting in the construction of a fourth courtroom and relocation of the Clerk of Courts office at the Richland County administration building are on the clock.
County commissioners on Thursday officially asked for engineering or architecture firms to submit their qualifications for the project by March 14 at 2 p.m.
Firms with questions about the request have until March 7 to pose those inquiries.
The five-page document was unanimously approved during a meeting Thursday with county administrator Andrew Keller.
“This project has been a long time coming, really,” Keller said. “We are expecting this firm to perform all phases of design (and also) assisting in project bidding and construction.”
The plan is to renovate “L2” at the courthouse, which was once the county jail, and move the Clerk of Courts into that space from its current space on the second floor. It would then renovate the clerk’s former space for the additional courtroom.
A timetable for the project has been difficult to project since work in the former jail is still underway and has been slowed by the discovery of uneven floors found when the cells were removed from the concrete.
Commissioners have said they plan to use “lost revenue” provisions under the American Rescue Plant Act to pay for the project.
According to the request, the project is anticipated to consist of:
— approximately 3,400 square feet of interior alterations of the existing jail block C and women’s jail portions of the building, which will become the Clerk of Courts business administration areas for domestic, civil and criminal administration areas. There will be cubical areas and a few individual offices.
— approximately 2,400 square feet of interior alterations of the existing jail cell block B to become a general meeting room with common, public restrooms.
— approximately 2,528 square feet of interior alterations of existing jail cell block A to become general storage area or left for future development.
— approximately 3,000 square feet of interior alterations to the existing Clerk of Courts business administration areas that will become courtroom and conference room space.
— assistance in federal cost analysis and any changes to the project as requested by the county.
Richland County Common Pleas Court general division Judges Brent Robinson and Phil Naumoff asked commissioners for the fourth courtroom in May 2021.
The judges cited additional space needed due to COVID-19 requirements, an increased number of jury trials and changes in state laws requiring speedier criminal arraignments and hearings.
It would be used by both judges and their three magistrates and would also provide extra space for the county prosecutor to conduct grand jury sessions.
Naumoff said Feb. 10 the additional courtroom is needed, even though local COVID-19 caseloads are currently declining during a pandemic that began almost two years ago.
“The fourth courtroom has been a necessity,” he said. “COVID just hastened it.”
On Feb. 10, commissioners authorized Keller to prepare the request for qualifications.
On Thursday, commissioners also selected an evaluation team of Keller, Commissioner Darrell Banks, county maintenance Supt. Chuck Minnich and his assistant, Josh Hicks, to review the submitted qualifications.
That team will rank “firms which it considers to be the most qualified” and make a recommendation to the three-member board of commissioners.
“We would like to have this construction project in place as soon as May or June of this year. It will be a marathon project,” Keller said.
“We would like to have it completed in two years, max,” he said. “If we can get it done sooner, that’s great. But it’s definitely going to take some time.”
